Council of Europe Treaty Series

European Social Charter - [1961] COETS 1 (18 October 1961)

European Social Charter

Turin, 18.X.1961

Preamble

The governments signatory hereto, being members of the Council of Europe,

Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is the achievement of greater unity
between its members for the purpose of
safeguarding and realising the ideals and
principles which are their common heritage and of facilitating their economic and social
progress, in particular by the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and
fundamental freedoms;

Considering that in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms signed at Rome on 4th November 1950,
and the Protocol thereto signed at Paris on
20th March 1952, the member States of the Council of Europe agreed to secure to their
populations the civil and political rights and freedoms therein specified;

Considering that the enjoyment of social rights should be secured without discrimination
on grounds of race, colour, sex, religion,
political opinion, national extraction or
social origin;

Being resolved to make every effort in common to improve the standard of living and to
promote the social well-being of both their
urban and rural populations by means of
appropriate institutions and action,

Have agreed as follows:

Part I

The Contracting Parties accept as the aim of their policy, to be pursued by all
appropriate means, both national and international
in character, the attainment of
conditions in which the following rights and principles may be effectively realised:

Everyone shall have the opportunity to earn his living in an occupation freely entered
upon.

All workers have the right to just conditions of work.

All workers have the right to safe and healthy working conditions.

All workers have the right to a fair remuneration sufficient for a decent standard of
living for themselves and their families.

All workers and employers have the right to freedom of association in national or
international organisations for the protection
of their economic and social interests.

All workers and employers have the right to bargain collectively.

Children and young persons have the right to a special protection against the physical
and moral hazards to which they are exposed.

Employed women, in case of maternity, and other employed women as appropriate, have the
right to a special protection in their
work.

Everyone has the right to appropriate facilities for vocational guidance with a view to
helping him choose an occupation suited
to his personal aptitude and interests.

Everyone has the right to appropriate facilities for vocational training.

Everyone has the right to benefit from any measures enabling him to enjoy the highest
possible standard of health attainable.

All workers and their dependents have the right to social security.

Anyone without adequate resources has the right to social and medical assistance.

Everyone has the right to benefit from social welfare services.

Disabled persons have the right to vocational training, rehabilitation and resettlement,
whatever the origin and nature of their
disability.

The family as a fundamental unit of society has the right to appropriate social, legal
and economic protection to ensure its full
development.

Mothers and children, irrespective of marital status and family relations, have the
right to appropriate social and economic protection.

The nationals of any one of the Contracting Parties have the right to engage in any
gainful occupation in the territory of any
one of the others on a footing of equality with
the nationals of the latter, subject to restrictions based on cogent economic
or social
reasons.

Migrant workers who are nationals of a Contracting Party and their families have the
right to protection and assistance in the
territory of any other Contracting Party.

Part II

The Contracting Parties undertake, as provided for in Part III, to consider themselves
bound by the obligations laid down in the
following articles and paragraphs.

Article 1  The right to work

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to work, the Contracting
Parties undertake:

to accept as one of their primary aims and responsibilities the achievement and
maintenance of as high and stable a level of employment
as possible, with a view to the
attainment of full employment;

to protect effectively the right of the worker to earn his living in an occupation
freely entered upon;

to establish or maintain free employment services for all workers;

to provide or promote appropriate vocational guidance, training and rehabilitation.

Article 2  The right to just conditions of work

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to just conditions of work,
the Contracting Parties undertake:

to provide for reasonable daily and weekly working hours, the working week to be
progressively reduced to the extent that the
increase of productivity and other relevant
factors permit;

to provide for public holidays with pay;

to provide for a minimum of two weeks annual holiday with pay;

to provide for additional paid holidays or reduced working hours for workers engaged in
dangerous or unhealthy occupations as
prescribed;

to ensure a weekly rest period which shall, as far as possible, coincide with the day
recognised by tradition or custom in the
country or region concerned as a day of rest.

Article 3  The right to safe and healthy working conditions

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to safe and healthy working
conditions, the Contracting Parties undertake:

to issue safety and health regulations;

to provide for the enforcement of such regulations by measures of supervision;

to consult, as appropriate, employers' and workers' organisations on measures intended
to improve industrial safety and health.

Article 4  The right to a fair remuneration

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to a fair remuneration, the
Contracting Parties undertake:

to recognise the right of workers to a remuneration such as will give them and their
families a decent standard of living;

to recognise the right of workers to an increased rate of remuneration for overtime
work, subject to exceptions in particular
cases;

to recognise the right of men and women workers to equal pay for work of equal value;

to recognise the right of all workers to a reasonable period of notice for termination
of employment;

to permit deductions from wages only under conditions and to the extent prescribed by
national laws or regulations or fixed by
collective agreements or arbitration awards.
The exercise of these rights shall be achieved by freely concluded collective agreements,
by statutory wage-fixing machinery,
or by other means appropriate to national conditions.

Article 5  The right to organise

With a view to ensuring or promoting the freedom of workers and employers to form
local, national or international organisations
for the protection of their economic and
social interests and to join those organisations, the Contracting Parties undertake that
national law shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair, this
freedom. The extent to which the guarantees
provided for in this article shall apply to
the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations. The principle governing
the application to the members of the armed forces of these guarantees and the extent to
which they shall apply to persons in
this category shall equally be determined by national
laws or regulations.

Article 6  The right to bargain collectively

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to bargain collectively,
the Contracting Parties undertake:

to promote joint consultation between workers and employers;

to promote, where necessary and appropriate, machinery for voluntary negotiations
between employers or employers' organisations
and workers' organisations, with a view to
the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements;

to promote the establishment and use of appropriate machinery for conciliation and
voluntary arbitration for the settlement of
labour disputes;
and recognise:

the right of workers and employers to collective action in cases of conflicts of
interest, including the right to strike, subject
to obligations that might arise out of
collective agreements previously entered into.

Article 7  The right of children and young persons to
protection

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of children and young
persons to protection, the Contracting Parties
undertake:

to provide that the minimum age of admission to employment shall be 15 years, subject to
exceptions for children employed in prescribed
light work without harm to their health,
morals or education;

to provide that a higher minimum age of admission to employment shall be fixed with
respect to prescribed occupations regarded
as dangerous or unhealthy;

to provide that persons who are still subject to compulsory education shall not be
employed in such work as would deprive them
of the full benefit of their education;

to provide that the working hours of persons under 16 years of age shall be limited in
accordance with the needs of their development,
and particularly with their need for
vocational training;

to recognise the right of young workers and apprentices to a fair wage or other
appropriate allowances;

to provide that the time spent by young persons in vocational training during the normal
working hours with the consent of the
employer shall be treated as forming part of the
working day;

to provide that employed persons of under 18 years of age shall be entitled to not less
than three weeks' annual holiday with
pay;

to provide that persons under 18 years of age shall not be employed in night work with
the exception of certain occupations provided
for by national laws or regulations;

to provide that persons under 18 years of age employed in occupations prescribed by
national laws or regulations shall be subject
to regular medical control;

to ensure special protection against physical and moral dangers to which children and
young persons are exposed, and particularly
against those resulting directly or indirectly
from their work.

Article 8  The right of employed women to protection

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of employed women to
protection, the Contracting Parties undertake:

to provide either by paid leave, by adequate social security benefits or by benefits
from public funds for women to take leave
before and after childbirth up to a total of at
least 12 weeks;

to consider it as unlawful for an employer to give a woman notice of dismissal during
her absence on maternity leave or to give
her notice of dismissal at such a time that the
notice would expire during such absence;

to provide that mothers who are nursing their infants shall be entitled to sufficient
time off for this purpose;

to regulate the employment of women workers on night work in industrial employment;

to prohibit the employment of women workers in underground mining, and, as appropriate,
on all other work which is unsuitable
for them by reason of its dangerous, unhealthy, or
arduous nature.

Article 9  The right to vocational guidance

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to vocational guidance, the
Contracting Parties undertake to provide
or promote, as necessary, a service which will
assist all persons, including the handicapped, to solve problems related to occupational
choice and progress, with due regard to the individual's characteristics and their
relation to occupational opportunity: this
assistance should be available free of charge,
both to young persons, including school children, and to adults.

Article 10  The right to vocational training

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to vocational training, the
Contracting Parties undertake:

to provide or promote, as necessary, the technical and vocational training of all
persons, including the handicapped, in consultation
with employers' and workers'
organisations, and to grant facilities for access to higher technical and university
education,
based solely on individual aptitude;

to provide or promote a system of apprenticeship and other systematic arrangements for
training young boys and girls in their
various employments;

to provide or promote, as necessary:

adequate and readily available training facilities for adult workers;

special facilities for the re-training of adult workers needed as a result of
technological development or new trends in employment;

to encourage the full utilisation of the facilities provided by appropriate measures
such as:

reducing or abolishing any fees or charges;

granting financial assistance in appropriate cases;

including in the normal working hours time spent on supplementary training taken by the
worker, at the request of his employer,
during employment;

ensuring, through adequate supervision, in consultation with the employers' and workers'
organisations, the efficiency of apprenticeship
and other training arrangements for young
workers, and the adequate protection of young workers generally.

Article 11  The right to protection of health

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to protection of health,
the Contracting Parties undertake, either directly
or in co-operation with public or
private organisations, to take appropriate measures designed inter alia:

to remove as far as possible the causes of ill-health;

to provide advisory and educational facilities for the promotion of health and the
encouragement of individual responsibility
in matters of health;

to prevent as far as possible epidemic, endemic and other diseases.

Article 12  The right to social security

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to social security, the
Contracting Parties undertake:

to establish or maintain a system of social security;

to maintain the social security system at a satisfactory level at least equal to that
required for ratification of International
Labour Convention No. 102 Concerning Minimum
Standards of Social Security;

to endeavour to raise progressively the system of social security to a higher level;

to take steps, by the conclusion of appropriate bilateral and multilateral agreements,
or by other means, and subject to the conditions
laid down in such agreements, in order to
ensure:

equal treatment with their own nationals of the nationals of other Contracting Parties
in respect of social security rights,
including the retention of benefits arising out of
social security legislation, whatever movements the persons protected may
undertake
between the territories of the Contracting Parties;

the granting, maintenance and resumption of social security rights by such means as the
accumulation of insurance or employment
periods completed under the legislation of each of
the Contracting Parties.

Article 13  The right to social and medical assistance

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to social and medical
assistance, the Contracting Parties undertake:

to ensure that any person who is without adequate resources and who is unable to secure
such resources either by his own efforts
or from other sources, in particular by benefits
under a social security scheme, be granted adequate assistance, and, in case
of sickness,
the care necessitated by his condition;

to ensure that persons receiving such assistance shall not, for that reason, suffer from
a diminution of their political or social
rights;

to provide that everyone may receive by appropriate public or private services such
advice and personal help as may be required
to prevent, to remove, or to alleviate
personal or family want;

to apply the provisions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this article on an equal
footing with their nationals to nationals
of other Contracting Parties lawfully within
their territories, in accordance with their obligations under the European Convention
on
Social and Medical Assistance, signed at Paris on 11th December 1953.

Article 14  The right to benefit from social welfare services

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to benefit from social
welfare services, the Contracting Parties undertake:

to promote or provide services which, by using methods of social work, would contribute
to the welfare and development of both
individuals and groups in the community, and to
their adjustment to the social environment;

to encourage the participation of individuals and voluntary or other organisations in
the establishment and maintenance of such
services.

Article 15  The right of physically or mentally disabled
persons to vocational training, rehabilitation and social resettlement

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of the physically or
mentally disabled to vocational training, rehabilitation
and resettlement, the Contracting
Parties undertake:

to take adequate measures for the provision of training facilities, including, where
necessary, specialised institutions, public
or private;

to take adequate measures for the placing of disabled persons in employment, such as
specialised placing services, facilities
for sheltered employment and measures to
encourage employers to admit disabled persons to employment.

Article 16  The right of the family to social, legal and
economic protection

With a view to ensuring the necessary conditions for the full development of the
family, which is a fundamental unit of society,
the Contracting Parties undertake to
promote the economic, legal and social protection of family life by such means as social
and family benefits, fiscal arrangements, provision of family housing, benefits for the
newly married, and other appropriate means.

Article 17  The right of mothers and children to social and
economic protection

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of mothers and children to
social and economic protection, the Contracting
Parties will take all appropriate and
necessary measures to that end, including the establishment or maintenance of appropriate
institutions or services.

Article 18  The right to engage in a gainful occupation in
the territory of other Contracting Parties

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to engage in a gainful
occupation in the territory of any other Contracting
Party, the Contracting Parties
undertake:

to apply existing regulations in a spirit of liberality;

to simplify existing formalities and to reduce or abolish chancery dues and other
charges payable by foreign workers or their
employers;

to liberalise, individually or collectively, regulations governing the employment of
foreign workers;
and recognise:

the right of their nationals to leave the country to engage in a gainful occupation in
the territories of the other Contracting
Parties.

Article 19  The right of migrant workers and their families
to protection and assistance

With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of migrant workers and
their families to protection and assistance in
the territory of any other Contracting
Party, the Contracting Parties undertake:

to maintain or to satisfy themselves that there are maintained adequate and free
services to assist such workers, particularly
in obtaining accurate information, and to
take all appropriate steps, so far as national laws and regulations permit, against
misleading propaganda relating to emigration and immigration;

to adopt appropriate measures within their own jurisdiction to facilitate the departure,
journey and reception of such workers
and their families, and to provide, within their own
jurisdiction, appropriate services for health, medical attention and good
hygienic
conditions during the journey;

to promote co-operation, as appropriate, between social services, public and private, in
emigration and immigration countries;

to secure for such workers lawfully within their territories, insofar as such matters
are regulated by law or regulations or are
subject to the control of administrative
authorities, treatment not less favourable than that of their own nationals in respect
of
the following matters:

remuneration and other employment and working conditions;

membership of trade unions and enjoyment of the benefits of collective bargaining;

accommodation;

to secure for such workers lawfully within their territories treatment not less
favourable than that of their own nationals with
regard to employment taxes, dues or
contributions payable in respect of employed persons;

to facilitate as far as possible the reunion of the family of a foreign worker permitted
to establish himself in the territory;

to secure for such workers lawfully within their territories treatment not less
favourable than that of their own nationals in
respect of legal proceedings relating to
matters referred to in this article;

to secure that such workers lawfully residing within their territories are not expelled
unless they endanger national security
or offend against public interest or morality;

to permit, within legal limits, the transfer of such parts of the earnings and savings
of such workers as they may desire;

to extend the protection and assistance provided for in this article to self-employed
migrants insofar as such measures apply.

Part III

Article 20  Undertakings

Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes:

to consider Part I of this Charter as a declaration of the aims which it will pursue by
all appropriate means, as stated in
the introductory paragraph of that part;

to consider itself bound by at least five of the following articles of Part II of this
Charter: Articles 1, 5, 6, 12, 13, 16
and 19;

in addition to the articles selected by it in accordance with the preceding
sub-paragraph, to consider itself bound by such
a number of articles or numbered
paragraphs of Part II of the Charter as it may select, provided that the total number of
articles or numbered paragraphs by which it is bound is not less than 10 articles or 45
numbered paragraphs.

The articles or paragraphs selected in accordance with sub-paragraphs b and c of
paragraph 1 of this article shall be notified
to the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe at the time when the instrument of ratification or approval of the Contracting
Party concerned is deposited.

Any Contracting Party may, at a later date, declare by notification to the Secretary
General that it considers itself bound by
any articles or any numbered paragraphs of Part
II of the Charter which it has not already accepted under the terms of paragraph
1 of this
article. Such undertakings subsequently given shall be deemed to be an integral part of
the ratification or approval,
and shall have the same effect as from the thirtieth day
after the date of the notification.

The Secretary General shall communicate to all the signatory governments and to the
Director General of the International Labour
Office any notification which he shall have
received pursuant to this part of the Charter.

Each Contracting Party shall maintain a system of labour inspection appropriate to
national conditions.

Part IV

Article 21  Reports concerning accepted provisions

The Contracting Parties shall send to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe a
report at two-yearly intervals, in a form
to be determined by the Committee of Ministers,
concerning the application of such provisions of Part II of the Charter as they
have
accepted.

Article 22  Reports concerning provisions which are not
accepted

The Contracting Parties shall send to the Secretary General, at appropriate intervals
as requested by the Committee of Ministers,
reports relating to the provisions of Part II
of the Charter which they did not accept at the time of their ratification or approval
or
in a subsequent notification. The Committee of Ministers shall determine from time to time
in respect of which provisions
such reports shall be requested and the form of the reports
to be provided.

Article 23  Communication of copies

Each Contracting Party shall communicate copies of its reports referred to in Articles
21 and 22 to such of its national organisations
as are members of the international
organisations of employers and trade unions to be invited under Article 27, paragraph 2,
to be represented at meetings of the Sub-committee of the Governmental Social Committee.

The Contracting Parties shall forward to the Secretary General any comments on the said
reports received from these national organisations,
if so requested by them.

Article 24  Examination of the reports

The reports sent to the Secretary General in accordance with Articles 21 and 22 shall
be examined by a Committee of Experts, who
shall have also before them any comments
forwarded to the Secretary General in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 23.

Article 25  Committee of Experts

The Committee of Experts shall consist of not more than seven members appointed by the
Committee of Ministers from a list of independent
experts of the highest integrity and of
recognised competence in international social questions, nominated by the Contracting
Parties.

The members of the committee shall be appointed for a period of six years. They may be
reappointed. However, of the members first
appointed, the terms of office of two members
shall expire at the end of four years.

The members whose terms of office are to expire at the end of the initial period of four
years shall be chosen by lot by the Committee
of Ministers immediately after the first
appointment has been made.

A member of the Committee of Experts appointed to replace a member whose term of office
has not expired shall hold office for
the remainder of his predecessor's term.

Article 26  Participation of the International Labour Organisation

The International Labour Organisation shall be invited to nominate a representative to
participate in a consultative capacity in
the deliberations of the Committee of Experts.

Article 27  Sub-committee of the Governmental Social Committee

The reports of the Contracting Parties and the conclusions of the Committee of Experts
shall be submitted for examination to a
sub-committee of the Governmental Social Committee
of the Council of Europe.

The sub-committee shall be composed of one representative of each of the Contracting
Parties. It shall invite no more than two
international organisations of employers and no
more than two international trade union organisations as it may designate to
be
represented as observers in a consultative capacity at its meetings. Moreover, it may
consult no more than two representatives
of international non-governmental organisations
having consultative status with the Council of Europe, in respect of questions
with which
the organisations are particularly qualified to deal, such as social welfare, and the
economic and social protection
of the family.

The sub-committee shall present to the Committee of Ministers a report containing its
conclusions and append the report of the
Committee of Experts.

Article 28  Consultative Assembly

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit to the Consultative
Assembly the conclusions of the Committee of Experts.
The Consultative Assembly shall
communicate its views on these conclusions to the Committee of Ministers.

Article 29  Committee of Ministers

By a majority of two-thirds of the members entitled to sit on the Committee, the
Committee of Ministers may, on the basis of the
report of the sub-committee, and after
consultation with the Consultative Assembly, make to each Contracting Party any necessary
recommendations.

Part V

Article 30  Derogations in time of war or public emergency

In time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation any
Contracting Party may take measures derogating
from its obligations under this Charter to
the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such
measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law.

Any Contracting Party which has availed itself of this right of derogation shall, within
a reasonable lapse of time, keep the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe fully
informed of the measures taken and of the reasons therefor. It shall likewise
inform the
Secretary General when such measures have ceased to operate and the provisions of the
Charter which it has accepted
are again being fully executed.

The Secretary General shall in turn inform other Contracting Parties and the Director
General of the International Labour Office
of all communications received in accordance
with paragraph 2 of this article.

Article 31  Restrictions

The rights and principles set forth in Part I when effectively realised, and their
effective exercise as provided for in Part
II, shall not be subject to any restrictions or
limitations not specified in those parts, except such as are prescribed by law
and are
necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others
or for the protection of
public interest, national security, public health, or morals.

The restrictions permitted under this Charter to the rights and obligations set forth
herein shall not be applied for any purpose
other than that for which they have been
prescribed.

Article 32  Relations between the Charter and domestic law or
international agreements

The provisions of this Charter shall not prejudice the provisions of domestic law or of
any bilateral or multilateral treaties,
conventions or agreements which are already in
force, or may come into force, under which more favourable treatment would be accorded
to
the persons protected.

Article 33  Implementation by collective agreements

In member States where the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Article 2,
paragraphs 4, 6 and 7 of Article 7 and paragraphs
1, 2, 3 and 4 of Article 10 of Part II
of this Charter are matters normally left to agreements between employers or employers'
organisations and workers' organisations, or are normally carried out otherwise than by
law, the undertakings of those paragraphs
may be given and compliance with them shall be
treated as effective if their provisions are applied through such agreements or
other
means to the great majority of the workers concerned.

In member States where these provisions are normally the subject of legislation, the
undertakings concerned may likewise be given,
and compliance with them shall be regarded
as effective if the provisions are applied by law to the great majority of the workers
concerned.

Article 34  Territorial application

This Charter shall apply to the metropolitan territory of each Contracting Party. Each
signatory government may, at the time of
signature or of the deposit of its instrument of
ratification or approval, specify, by declaration addressed to the Secretary
General of
the Council of Europe, the territory which shall be considered to be its metropolitan
territory for this purpose.

Any Contracting Party may, at the time of ratification or approval of this Charter or at
any time thereafter, declare by notification
addressed to the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe, that the Charter shall extend in whole or in part to a non-metropolitan
territory or territories specified in the said declaration for whose international
relations it is responsible or for which
it assumes international responsibility. It shall
specify in the declaration the articles or paragraphs of Part II of the Charter
which it
accepts as binding in respect of the territories named in the declaration.

The Charter shall extend to the territory or territories named in the aforesaid
declaration as from the thirtieth day after the
date on which the Secretary General shall
have received notification of such declaration.

Any Contracting Party may declare at a later date, by notification addressed to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
that, in respect of one or more of the
territories to which the Charter has been extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of this
article, it accepts as binding any articles or any numbered paragraphs which it has not
already accepted in respect of that
territory or territories. Such undertakings
subsequently given shall be deemed to be an integral part of the original declaration
in
respect of the territory concerned, and shall have the same effect as from the thirtieth
day after the date of the notification.

The Secretary General shall communicate to the other signatory governments and to the
Director General of the International Labour
Office any notification transmitted to him in
accordance with this article.

Article 35  Signature, ratification and entry into force

This Charter shall be open for signature by the members of the Council of Europe. It
shall be ratified or approved. Instruments
of ratification or approval shall be deposited
with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

This Charter shall come into force as from the thirtieth day after the date of deposit
of the fifth instrument of ratification
or approval.

In respect of any signatory government ratifying subsequently, the Charter shall come
into force as from the thirtieth day after
the date of deposit of its instrument of
ratification or approval.

The Secretary General shall notify all the members of the Council of Europe and the
Director General of the International Labour
Office of the entry into force of the
Charter, the names of the Contracting Parties which have ratified or approved it and the
subsequent deposit of any instruments of ratification or approval.

Article 36  Amendments

Any member of the Council of Europe may propose amendments to this Charter in a
communication addressed to the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe. The Secretary
General shall transmit to the other members of the Council of Europe any amendments so
proposed, which shall then be considered by the Committee of Ministers and submitted to
the Consultative Assembly for opinion.
Any amendments approved by the Committee of
Ministers shall enter into force as from the thirtieth day after all the Contracting
Parties have informed the Secretary General of their acceptance. The Secretary General
shall notify all the members of the Council
of Europe and the Director General of the
International Labour Office of the entry into force of such amendments.

Article 37  Denunciation

Any Contracting Party may denounce this Charter only at the end of a period of five
years from the date on which the Charter entered
into force for it, or at the end of any
successive period of two years, and, in each case, after giving six months notice to
the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe who shall inform the other Parties and the
Director General of the International
Labour Office accordingly. Such denunciation shall
not affect the validity of the Charter in respect of the other Contracting
Parties
provided that at all times there are not less than five such Contracting Parties.

Any Contracting Party may, in accordance with the provisions set out in the preceding
paragraph, denounce any article or paragraph
of Part II of the Charter accepted by it
provided that the number of articles or paragraphs by which this Contracting Party is
bound shall never be less than 10 in the former case and 45 in the latter and that this
number of articles or paragraphs
shall continue to include the articles selected by the
Contracting Party among those to which special reference is made in Article
20, paragraph
1, sub-paragraph b.

Any Contracting Party may denounce the present Charter or any of the articles or
paragraphs of Part II of the Charter, under the
conditions specified in paragraph 1 of
this article in respect of any territory to which the said Charter is applicable by virtue
of a declaration made in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 34.

Article 38  Appendix

The appendix to this Charter shall form an integral part of it.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Charter.

Done at Turin, this 18th day of October 1961, in English and French, both texts being
equally authoritative, in a single copy which
shall be deposited within the archives of
the Council of Europe. The Secretary General shall transmit certified copies to each
of
the Signatories.

Appendix to the Social Charter

Scope of the Social Charter in terms of persons protected

Without prejudice to Article 12, paragraph 4, and Article 13, paragraph 4, the persons
covered by Articles 1 to 17 include foreigners
only insofar as they are nationals of other
Contracting Parties lawfully resident or working regularly within the territory of
the
Contracting Party concerned, subject to the understanding that these articles are to be
interpreted in the light of the
provisions of Articles 18 and 19.
This interpretation would not prejudice the extension of similar facilities to other
persons by any of the Contracting Parties.

Each Contracting Party will grant to refugees as defined in the Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees, signed at Geneva
on 28th July 1951, and lawfully staying in its
territory, treatment as favourable as possible, and in any case not less favourable
than
under the obligations accepted by the Contracting Party under the said Convention and
under any other existing international
instruments applicable to those refugees.

Part I, paragraph 18, and Part II, Article 18, paragraph 1

It is understood that these provisions are not concerned with the question of entry
into the territories of the Contracting Parties
and do not prejudice the provisions of the
European Convention on Establishment, signed at Paris on 13th December 1955.

Part II

Article 1, paragraph 2

This provision shall not be interpreted as prohibiting or authorising any union
security clause or practice.

Article 4, paragraph 4

This provision shall be so understood as not to prohibit immediate dismissal for any
serious offence.

Article 4, paragraph 5

It is understood that a Contracting Party may give the undertaking required in this
paragraph if the great majority of workers are
not permitted to suffer deductions from
wages either by law or through collective agreements or arbitration awards, the exceptions
being those persons not so covered.

Article 6, paragraph 4

It is understood that each Contracting Party may, insofar as it is concerned, regulate
the exercise of the right to strike by law,
provided that any further restriction that
this might place on the right can be justified under the terms of Article 31.

Article 7, paragraph 8

It is understood that a Contracting Party may give the undertaking required in this
paragraph if it fulfils the spirit of the undertaking
by providing by law that the great
majority of persons under 18 years of age shall not be employed in night work.

Article 12, paragraph 4

The words "and subject to the conditions laid down in such agreements" in the
introduction to this paragraph are taken
to imply inter alia that with regard to
benefits which are available independently of any insurance contribution a Contracting
Party may require the
completion of a prescribed period of residence before granting such
benefits to nationals of other Contracting Parties.

Article 13, paragraph 4

Governments not Parties to the European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance may
ratify the Social Charter in respect of
this paragraph provided that they grant to
nationals of other Contracting Parties a treatment which is in conformity with the
provisions of the said Convention.

Article 19, paragraph 6

For the purpose of this provision, the term "family of a foreign worker" is
understood to mean at least his wife and dependent
children under the age of 21 years.

Part III

It is understood that the Charter contains legal obligations of an international
character, the application of which is submitted
solely to the supervision provided for in
Part IV thereof.

Article 20, paragraph 1>

It is understood that the "numbered paragraphs" may include articles
consisting of only one paragraph.

Part V

Article 30

The term "in time of war or other public emergency" shall be so understood as
to cover also the threat of war.